


what yields the need

by HuiLian



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, YeetDC2020, injuries, minimal editing we die like mne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25857814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: Tim doesn't want to be here. Okay, he wanted to last week, when Dick told him that everyone is going hiking as a 'family bonding experience' (Dick’s words, not his)-- he hasn't even seen Cass for a couple of months--, but right now, as he looks at a grimacing Damian, who is holding his injured foot, Tim really doesn't want to be here.Why is it that every time the two of them are together alone, someone ends up injured?
Relationships: Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821709
Comments: 22
Kudos: 145





	what yields the need

**Author's Note:**

> two fics in two days? It's more likely than you think.
> 
> Inspired because my mom did actually sprain her ankle in a mountain hike last weekend, and also for my batman bingo card for the prompt, "Drake, seriously?"
> 
> title from hozier!

Tim doesn't want to be here. Okay, he wanted to last week, when Dick told him that _everyone_ is going hiking as a 'family bonding experience' (Dick’s words, not his)-- he hasn't even _seen_ Cass for a couple of months--, but right now, as he looks at a grimacing Damian, who is holding his injured foot, Tim _really_ doesn't want to be here. 

Why is it that every time the two of them are together alone, someone ends up injured?

They were supposed to go _together_ , the whole family: Alfred, Bruce, Dick, Tim, Cass, Damian, Duke, and even Jason. But of course, things never work like that. Tim's case took longer than expected, the weapons dealer had _another_ dealer who supplied him and so Tim had to track _that_ dealer. He did _two_ all-nighters to finish it before today, but he didn't quite manage to finish it before it was time to leave.

And because the universe likes to smite him, _Damian_ called in just before they leave to say that he's going to be late. His _thing_ with Jon ran longer than expected, he said. 

Dick had offered to postpone the trip, or at least, let the others go first and wait for him and Damian, but Tim can see how tired his older brother really is. He definitely doesn't want to spend the entire hike listening to the two of them bickering, because even though Tim's relationship with Damian is no longer filled with spite and murder tendencies as it was in the beginning, Tim is mature enough to say that they still bicker to the death. Damian seems provoked by everything Tim does and he gets under Tim's skin the way no one else does. Tim will, and has, fight an alien god for the kid, but they will disagree on everything on principle.

The moment he realizes that the only other option is to spend the entire hike with Damian, Tim already doesn’t want to do this. But Dick looks exhausted and Tim is not _heartless_ , so he, against his better judgement, convinces Dick that he can just go with Damian and catch up with the rest of them on the camping ground.

Dick looks suspicious when Tim told him the plan, but Tim frames it in a way that makes it sound like he wants to bond with the little gremlin. He knows Dick can’t resist that, and sure enough, he eventually agrees. 

Anyway, it’s just hiking. How hard can it be?

Pretty hard, apparently, if Damian, someone trained since birth with the League of Assassins, slips and sprains his ankle in the middle of it. 

Or maybe Damian is just too tired from his little adventure with Jon. He is, despite everything, still a thirteen-year-old kid, and hiking up a mountain after fighting crime with the son of Superman is bound to be too much.

Nevertheless, Damian sprains his ankle, and there’s no one but Tim to take care of it. _Why_ did Tim try to be considerate? If Dick is here, he would have taken care of it and Tim wouldn’t have had to do anything. 

But it’s just Tim here, and Damian is glaring daggers at him, as if it’s _Tim’s_ fault that he slipped. Fortunately, by now, Tim knows Damian enough to know that this glaring thing is a defence mechanism and the kid is just in pain and embarrassed but too afraid to show it. 

A horrifying thought, because this means that Tim is close enough to Damian to know how the little gremlin thinks.

Tim sighs, puts down his pack, crouches next to the kid, and says, “Come on, Damian. Up.”

Damian looks up and meets Tim’s eyes with confusion. 

Honestly, does the kid want Tim to spell it out?

“You can’t walk with that.” Tim jerks his head towards his back. “Come on. Up.”

Damian’s brows furrow, in the same way that used to infuriate Tim but now just part of Damian’s charm. “Drake,” he says, “seriously?”

“What?” Tim says, offended. Try to do a nice thing for this kid, Tim swears. “You don’t think I can do it?”

Damian clicks his tongue. “I weigh nearly as much as you, Drake,” he says condescendingly, as if teaching something to a very dumb child. “Not to mention the packs. There’s no way you can walk with that.”

Tim huffs. “It’s just another hour.”

Damian raises his eyebrows and says, “It’ll double if you walk it while carrying me _and_ the packs. Honestly, Drake.”

“We’ll just leave the packs. Send Bruce or Jason down to get them. No one else is here anyway.”

“You’re still carrying _me._ And I probably weigh the same as you, with how scrawny you are.”

“Watch who you’re calling scrawny, brat,” Tim says, but he can’t help but acknowledge Damian’s point. Damian is _heavy_. Not to mention that he’ll be climbing _up_. 

Tim frowns, trying to figure out a way out of this, the usual way of calling for back-up being void because there’s no signal whatsoever up here in the mountains, but before he can say anything, Damian says, “I can walk, you know.”

“Not on that ankle, you can’t,” Tim retorts immediately. He is _not_ risking Alfred’s wrath by letting Damian walk on a sprained ankle. 

“Tt,” Damian says. “Then just leave me here. You can ask Father to come retrieve me later.”

After Damian says that, Tim is tempted to do it. Damian won’t be here for long, anyway. Without the packs, and if he exerts himself, Tim can reach the camping ground in about forty minutes. Then Bruce or Jason, or Dick, probably, can come down and reach the kid in around twenty minutes. Add in five minutes to find them and tell them about the situation, the kid will just be here for just over an hour. 

But then, Tim looks at Damian, sees the grimace of pain he’s trying to hide, and decides that he’s not going to leave him here alone. 

“No,” Tim says. “I can do it. Come on, brat. Up. Or I’ll pick you up and walk all the way there with you in my arms.” Tim turns around and puts his arms around Damian’s legs and torso to emphasize the point. 

Damian swats his hands away and says, “Keep your filthy hands away from me, Drake!”

“Then climb up, Damian.” 

Damian huffs, and after glaring at Tim for a moment, climbs to Tim’s back. 

Tim hooks his arms around Damian’s legs and stands up. The weight of Damian on his back makes him lean backwards for a while before he manages to balance. The kid is _heavy_. 

“Drake,” Damian says, voice alarmed, “just leave me here. You can’t possibly do this.”

Tim adjusts Damian on his back and says, “Like hell I can’t. Just shut up and let me handle this.”

Tim takes a step and has to contract his core muscles to keep him from toppling backwards. Damian tightens his hold on Tim’s neck. “Drake,” Damian says. “Timothy. I will be fine. Just leave me here.”

“No,” Tim huffs. “I’m fine, Damian. Just… just shut up and don’t make my job harder.”

Tim can feel Damian adjust his body to keep his centre of gravity as close to Tim’s as possible. It helps, a bit. 

Tim takes another step and doesn’t topple. Good. Just a couple hundred more steps. He can do this. 

Damian doesn’t say anything throughout the rest of their climb, and Tim doesn’t offer any conversation either. However, just before they reach the camping ground, Damian says, in the softest voice possible, “Thank you, Timothy.”

Tim smiles, even as his muscles scream their protests. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t need to, but he does grip the kid’s legs a bit tighter for a moment. 

It’s his little brother, after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> check out my tumblr [ here ](huilian.tumblr.com) (huilian.tumblr.com)
> 
> comments and kudos fuel me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


End file.
